Resources and news of note on Super DMCA legislation (“to combat broadband and communications piracy”) that is proliferating at the state level, driven in large measure by relentless lobbying on the part of the Motion Picture Assocation of America (MPAA), and which, for the most part, is based on the organization’s proposed model legislation. The Broadband & Internet Security Task Force, an industry sponsored organization, is also a key player in the effort to enact such legislation.
From the American Library Association (ALA), see this ‘Super’ DMCA State Legislation Table. Via Tech Law Advisor, this commentary on pending Florida legislation (H79 and S1078) contends the legislation “would take away your right to potentially own or operate a TiVo, network firewall, or WiFi device. Not to mention your right to privacy…”
From the Chronicle for Higher Education, a Michigan grad student moved his research on information hiding techniques (steganography) to a server in the Netherlands for fear of prosecution under Michigan’s Public Act 672, which prohibits conduct with regard to telecommunications access devices.
And from Information Week, this article about software developer Tom Liston’s network security application to fight worms, called LaBrea. Mr. Liston has been directly impacted by Super DMCA legislation enacted on January 1, 2003 in Illinois, such that he felt compelled to remove his software from public access via the Hackbuster site, on April 16.